Kaal Dorst Beyond MIP final

Slide1: Metaphor in discourse: beyond the boundaries of MIP ICLC 2007 Lettie Dorst ag.dorst@let.vu.nl Anna Kaal aa.kaal@let.vu.nl Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Overview: Overview MIP (Metaphor Identification Procedure) Beyond MIP Simile and other comparisons Direct versus indirect language use
PRAGGLEJAZ GROUP: PRAGGLEJAZ GROUP PRAGGLEJAZ = P eter Crisp, Chinese University Hong Kong R ay Gibbs, University of California A lan Cienki, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam G raham Low, University of York G erard steen, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam L ynne Cameron, University of Leeds E lena Semino, Lancaster University J oe Grady, Cultural Logic LLC A lice Deignan, University of Leeds Z oltán Kövecses, Eötvös Loránd University Budapest
MIP (Metaphor Identification Procedure): MIP (Metaphor Identification Procedure) Read the entire text Determine the lexical units (a) For each lexical unit, establish its contextual meaning (b) For each lexical unit, determine if it has a more basic contemporary meaning (c) Decide whether the contextual meaning contrasts with the basic meaning but can be understood in comparison with it 3) If yes, mark the lexical unit as metaphorical
MIP: clear example: MIP: clear example “That girl is a dog !” (BNC: BMW-09) Contextual meaning: ‘someone who is not attractive’ (MM 2) Basic meaning: ‘an animal kept as a pet, for guarding buildings, or for hunting’ (MM 1) Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners Are the contextual and basic sense distinct? Yes Can the contextual and basic sense be compared? Yes Metaphorically used? Yes
Beyond MIP: simile: Beyond MIP: simile “Sara was undressed and ready for bed but Jenny was fully clothed, moving about the room in her harlequin dress like some angry restless dragonfly.” Contextual meaning: ‘an insect with a long narrow brightly coloured body and two pairs of transparent wings’ (MM) Basic meaning = contextual meaning Are the contextual and basic sense distinct? No Can the contextual and basic sense be compared? No Metaphorically used? No BUT: mapping between Jenny and dragonfly in conceptual structure
Beyond MIP: simile (2) : Beyond MIP: simile (2) MIP: Indirect language use (“dog”) is coded as type=met (metaphorically used word) VU: Direct language use that compares two distinct conceptual domains is coded as type=lit (literally used word evoking a metaphorical mapping) Similes are often “flagged” by words such as ‘like’, ‘as a’, ‘as if’, etc. (Goatly, 1997). These “flags” receive the code “Mflag”
Beyond MIP: simile (3): Beyond MIP: simile (3) Other examples: “From there, like a buzzard in its eyrie, he would make forays round the US and abroad in spite of his advanced age.” (A1H-05-06) “She had known him since he was a very small five-year-old, perched like a mosquito on one of the placid beginners' ponies.” (AB9-03)
Problem 1: Metaphor or not?: Problem 1: Metaphor or not? “Mm, it would bounce up and down like a yo-yo.” (KB7-48) “Jenny, I don’t want to sound like an old auntie, but you are not being very sensible about Matthew.” (J54-01) “Delaney took risks, plummeting feet first through the hatchways, and partly breaking his descent with the handrails, falling like a parachutist, rolling instantly deploying his Uzi.” (BPA-14) Simile or literal comparison?
Metaphor or not? (2): Metaphor or not? (2) Shape metaphors / ‘one-shot’ metaphors (Lakoff & Turner,1989) “Poplar leaves have an elegant outline resembling that of an Arab minaret.” (AMM-02b) “John House, who had organised the exhibition, came almost leaping down the stairs accompanied by a smallish woman in a pine-green tent-like coat.” (FET-01) “You wouldn't have recognized him, he looked like John the Baptist.” (CDB-04)
Metaphor or not? (3): Metaphor or not? (3) Counterfactual situations “The tops of the mountains are still golden, as though honey had been poured lightly over them.” (FAJ-17) “The house that when he first saw it had seemed to float on a raft of golden mist, now lay in a wilderness, amidst ragged grass and straggling bushes and trees dead from the heat.” (CDB-02)
Summary problem 1: Summary problem 1 Question: Is there enough contrast and comparison between the two domains to set up a metaphorical mapping of source and target? -> two distinct and ‘incongruous domains’ (Cameron, 2003), however weak, should be considered as expressing a cross-domain mapping.
Problem 2: direct versus indirect language use: Problem 2: direct versus indirect language use Extension of similes: “He paused, reminding Mcleish irresistibly of a labrador wondering how best to approach an acquaintance.” (AB9-03) “He’s like a favourite old coat. He always makes me feel cosy.” (J54-01) -> punctuation?
Direct versus indirect language use (2): Direct versus indirect language use (2) Literalized metaphor “The room in which they were sitting underwent the curious shrinking process to which it was subject whenever he was reminded of Wyvis Hall or his Uncle Hilbert or even if the county of Suffolk were mentioned.” (CDB-02) -> perspective?
Direct versus indirect language use (3): Direct versus indirect language use (3) Blend of source and target “At its most simple, La Chingada, as the mother of Mestizo culture is ‘the Mother forcibly opened, violated or deceived’. The female soil possessed and misused by the masculine force of the Spanish invaders. The Indian Mexico raped and abused by the conquistador yet bearing his bastard child.” (A6U-02)
Direct versus indirect language use (4): Direct versus indirect language use (4) Idiomatic expressions “It 's my life which is about to go down the plughole.” (AC2-06) “Having put the cat among the pigeons, […] he was lying low now and waiting.” (CDB-04) “Ruth had no heart for it.” (CB5-02) “Many high-ranking Germans were out to save their own necks.” (GOL-01)
Proper names and nicknames: Proper names and nicknames He reminds me of your Neanderthal friend, the Maggot, except Rickie is a great deal more handsome (CCWfrag04). She was moving back on board Wavebreaker in preparation for the next day 's early departure. […] This boat was called Dream Baby, and she was clearly an expensive infant for rods and whip-aerials and outriggers splayed from her upperworks […] (CCWfrag03) Dalgliesh took the baby from her while Theresa helped the children into the Jaguar […] (C8Tfrag01)
Conventionalized allegory: Conventionalized allegory “The speed of descent must have cut down the exposure to any residual gas since he felt none of the earlier weirdness as he approached the still sealed engine room door. Pandora 's Box.” (BPA-14) Macmillan: something that could cause a lot of problems if you do it, use it, or say it “Holt's child is actually the Artful Dodger; mercifully, not all children are.” (ECV-05a) Macmillan: someone who is clever and manages to get out of difficult situations and avoid answering questions
Summary problem 2: Summary problem 2 Boundary between direct and indirect language use is sometimes blurred, which makes it difficult to decide what to code. Both source and target interpretations may be possible at the same time (mention vs. use); which interpretation do we choose?
Problems beyond MIP: Problems beyond MIP Apart from indirect metaphors catered for by MIP, what counts as a metaphor? Where do the boundaries between direct and indirect language lie and what do we code as belonging to the metaphorical mapping? -> Second step of VU research project: conceptual analysis
References: References Cameron, L. (2003). Metaphor in Educational Discourse. London: Continuum Goatly, A. (1997). The language of metaphors. London: Routledge Lakoff, G. and M. Turner (1989). More than Cool Reason – A Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor. Chicago: University of Chicago Press